Boyertown makes most of chances, overtakes Spring-Ford 3-2
ROYERSFORD >> Mason Kurtz didn’t seem to mind the trade.
The Boyertown goalkeeper gave his voice. But in return he got one of the biggest wins of a Bears’ season that has already had a few.
“I kind of lost my voice there towards the end of the half. I started screaming but there was nothing left,” the Boyertown senior said. “It’s a lot of pressure, especially with only a one-goal lead. It was just one of those things where we just knew we had to bear down, just keep them from scoring. And we were able to do that.”
If he could have screamed in celebration postgame, it would have been deserved as Boyertown made the most of three fortuitous goals, got nine-save goalkeeping from Kurtz and a resolute performance to hold off dangerous Spring-Ford, 3-2, Thursday night at Coach McNelly Stadium in a matchup of the Pioneer Athletic Conference’s top two teams.
Final: Boyertown 3, Spring-Ford 2, PAC boys soccer. Early corner kick goals give enough as Bears prevail with a great win pic.twitter.com/4EKP9C2j5C
— Austin Hertzog (@AustinHertzog) October 4, 2019
Boyertown’s goals came from Dante Folk and Ryan Foskey, both from Nick Willson corner kicks in the first 10 minutes, while Drew Benning capitalized on a goalie error two minutes after halftime for the would-be game-winner.
Brandon Duke assisted Brett Gulati for Spring-Ford’s opening score 15 minutes in and then Duke finished a nice through ball from Ethan Mossip to make it 3-2 with 29:42 left.
Despite plenty of chances for the equalizer, Boyertown (6-1-1 PAC Liberty, 8-1-2 PAC, 11-1-2 overall) stood firm and overtook Spring-Ford (6-2, 9-2, 12-3) for first place in the PAC Liberty Division.
By completing the regular season sweep of Spring-Ford (1-0 win on an own goal on Sept. 12) it was another quality win for a Bear team ranked No. 3 in District 1-4A.
“I think there was a lot of pressure to win that game,” junior Nick Willson said. “We needed to win that one. And now we’ll be first in the PAC, which is really good.
“It felt like we needed a win because this is one of the bigger teams and they’re going to win the rest of their games. They’re going to put teams away, so we needed to put them away.”
Boyertown scored two goals in the first 10 minutes, both on Willson corner kicks to the back post, both against the run of play.
The first was cleared by a Spring-Ford defender, but the clearance was hit right into a Bears player and was sent back toward goal to a wide open Dante Folk for an easy score just five minutes in. Less than five minutes later, senior captain Foskey got the final touch through traffic on Willson’s delivery.
“I wanted to put it around the keeper, right on the back post right where Foskey and Matt Kerr are,” Willson said. “They’re crashing every time and always put their bodies through it.”
Dating back to Tuesday’s game-winner, 2-1 in overtime over Owen J. Roberts, Boyertown scored on three consecutive corner kicks.
“I can’t complain about that,” Willson said.
Despite controlling the run of play from the off, Spring-Ford trailed 2-0. Duke’s excellent drive to the right end line produced a cross for Gulati who was crashing the near post. The senior hit it on the volley as Spring-Ford got within 2-1 25:21 until half.
Boyertown took the sting out of the game into halftime, and quickly put one back into the game right out of the break. Landon Wenger carried down the left side and crossed in. The ball was spilled by Spring-Ford goalie Tommy McPoyle (three saves) and poached on by Benning.
Again, less than 10 minutes later, Spring-Ford got one back as midfield general Mossip won the ball back in the Boyertown half and quickly played a through ball for Duke, who ran on and rifled it past Kurtz to the near post.
Colin Trainor tested Kurtz on a long free kick with 19 to play while Gulati and Duke combined for two prime chances less than five minutes later, but with Foskey leading the back four alongside Daman Sangha, Kolby Houck and Matt Selders, Kurtz and the Bears stood tall.
“It was a team win. We came out strong right away,” Kurtz said. “It got a little ugly in parts of the game but we were able to do enough to beat one of the best teams in our league and that’s something to be proud of.”
